Admonished or admired for their moxie, ‘difficult women’ make themselves heard, challenge the status quo and shun gendered notions of niceness. In this panel event, two authors reflect on the difficult women who grace the pages of their books, sometimes with no grace at all. What makes these characters so striking? And why do we need them in the world? Anne Casey-Hardy (Cautionary Tales for Excitable Girls) and Fiona Kelly McGregor (Iris) share the stage with interviewer Sophie...

Bestselling author Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai and debut Australian author André Dao come together to discuss their new books in which the tumult of Vietnamese history converges with the present day. The follow-up to The Mountains Sing, Quế Mai’s Dust Child is a suspenseful saga of family secrets, hidden trauma and the overriding power of forgiveness. André’s Anam moves through a series of displacements from Hanoi to Paris and Melbourne to explore themes of memory, colonialism, inheritance and...

Trinidadian-British poet, novelist and musician Anthony Joseph was awarded the prestigious T.S. Eliot Prize in 2022 for Sonnets for Albert. A series of elegies to his mostly absent father, it explores the wider edges of Caribbean masculinity, loss and longing, drawing praise from the judges as “a luminous collection which celebrates humanity in all its contradictions and breathes new life into this enduring form.” Hear from Anthony as he discusses his craft and career, spanning five poetry...

Award-winning journalist Kate Legge discusses her search for answers after she learned of her husband’s affair, as chronicled in her memoir, Infidelity and Other Affairs. She reflects on a journey that led to the discovery of a fault line of betrayal spanning generations, and the ensuing path to healing. Kate is in conversation with Ailsa Piper. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’ Festival.   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and follow our channel.  Sydney...

Can’t get enough romance literature in your life? Join bestselling historical fantasy romance author Freya Marske (A Restless Truth), acclaimed debut novelist Saman Shad (The Matchmaker) and Wiradjuri councillor turned fiction-writer Yvonne Weldon (Sixty-Seven Days) for a panel event that reveals the thrills, spills and secrets of penning page-turning love stories that bring fresh life to the genre while making our hearts beat a little faster. They chat with ABC radio host and self-professed...

In the inspiring field guide to dropping out of the attention economy, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, artist and The New York Times–bestselling author Jenny Odell extolled the value of rest as resistance in a culture that always expects us to be productive. In conversation with Jess Scully she takes the discussion further and introduces her new book Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock which makes a radical argument about our concept of time and offers a...

After penning the Pulitzer Prize–winning novels The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, American author Colson Whitehead set out to write a trilogy of stories centred on a furniture salesman-turned-crook named Ray Carney. The first in the series, Harlem Shuffle, is a hugely entertaining tale of race, power and the history of New York in the guise of a page-turning heist novel. Join Colson in conversation with Michael Williams about the book and its forthcoming follow up, Crook...

Although many of us are lucky enough to eat well, we live in a food system that is broken. Ultra-processed products abound, food workers are exploited, hunger coexists with massive food waste, and farming methods have toxic consequences. Hear from a panel of inspiring advocates as they consider solutions to these problems and the path towards a better food future. Featuring champion of First Nations food practices and Warndu co-founders Damien Coulthard and Rebecca Sullivan, chef and writer...

Hear from a panel of speakers whose works have, in different ways, illuminated Afghanistan’s kaleidoscopic past and present through war and unrest, but also through culture and community. Durkhanai Ayubi shares her family’s food, heritage and culture in Parwana. Zaheda Ghani speaks to her debut novel Pomegranate & Fig, a story of tradition, family, war and displacement. Andrew Quilty recounts the capture of the country’s capital in 2021 through the eyes of Afghans in August in Kabul. They...

RBG: Of Many, One playwright and lawyer Suzie Miller (Prima Facie) read her way into Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s character and intellect via hundreds of pages of cases and judgements. To bring her to the stage, actor Heather Mitchell (Everything and Nothing) even brushed her teeth ‘as Ruth would’. Find out more about the alchemy that brought RBG to life on the page and the stage in this very special conversation between two unique artists. They are joined by Ailsa Piper. This episode was recorded...

Biographies of public figures are perennially popular with readers eager to gain insight into the lives and legacies of political leaders and media titans. But are they beholden to scandals and scoops, or can they bring valuable perspectives to historic events and how we see ourselves as a nation? Hear from Paddy Manning, Niki Savva and Margaret Simons about how they balance public and private as they discuss their accounts of those in public life, on stage with host Laura Tingle. This...

Regarded as one the great Sri Lankan novelists, Shehan Karunatilaka won the 2022 Booker Prize for his epic, searing and darkly funny satire The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Narrated by the ghost of a gay atheist photojournalist, it follows a week in the afterlife in which he reckons with his sexual escapades, a gambling habit, and the state-sponsored death squads he sought to expose. Shehan speaks with Michael Williams about a novel that breaks with conventional modes of storytelling to...

Bestselling historian and Oxford professor Peter Frankopan explores the impact of climate change across history in The Earth Transformed: An Untold History. From how the cyclical pressures of El Niño paved the fall of the Moche civilisation in South America to the volcanic eruption in Iceland that helped bring the Ottoman Empire to its knees, he brilliantly recasts human history through the lens of the natural world. Peter chats with Tim Flannery about a compelling book with a timely message...

Jane Harper has been hailed “the queen of outback noir” (The Sunday Times) for a string of crime novels that have sold more than 3 million copies in 40 territories worldwide. Her latest book, Exiles, brings back federal policeman Aaron Falk, who was first introduced in The Dry. He investigates the disappearance of a woman from a country wine festival whose infant daughter is found unharmed in her pram. Listen to Jane in conversation with Michaela Kalowski about the thrilling and final...

Two-time world debating champion Bo Seo and former High Court justice Michael Kirby examine how we might better listen to and disagree with each other in an era of increasingly harsh and divisive discourse. They discuss Bo’s new book, Good Arguments, part memoir of how he discovered the art of debating as a shy, conflict-adverse child, and part treatise on why the pillars of good debate – fact finding, reason and persuasion – offer an antidote to political spin, fake news and social media...

How is fiction evolving with our times? Is the novel a vulnerable art or more vital than ever? Could AI one day pen a masterpiece or do our storytellers guard an inimitable craft? Join some of the leading names in literature today – Eleanor Catton, Richard Flanagan, Tracey Lien and Colson Whitehead – for a lively discussion about the state of the novel and the future of fiction. They are joined in conversation by ABC RN’s The Bookshelf’s Kate Evans. This episode was recorded live at the 2023...

We are fascinated by stories of crime and how they unfold. There are no finer narrators of such stories than legendary author Helen Garner and The Teacher’s Pet podcaster Hedley Thomas, whose work explores the link between confronting terrible things that happen and the people who are involved. They sit down with Sarah Krasnostein to explore the compelling nature of crime and the pressing question of what happens when justice takes a lifetime – or if it never comes at all? This episode was...

With effects rippling into the present, the Sri Lankan Civil War, lasting more than 25 years from the early 1980s until 2009, has found an important place in our current cultural canon. Join lawyer and novelist of Song of the Sun God and Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens, Shankari Chandran, author of Booker Prize–winning The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, Shehan Karunatilaka, and Anandavalli as they discuss the island nation’s turbulent recent history and its influence in their storytelling. In...

Culinary icons Stephanie Alexander AO and Maggie Beer have inspired generations of home cooks and fundamentally transformed how we think about food. They reflect on their decades-long friendship, and their partnership in running a cooking school for Australians in a medieval villa in Italy. They also talk about their influential books on preparing, cooking and savouring delicious food, including their co-authored Tuscan Cookbook, which was recently optioned to be made into a feature film....

In a special series of events, Your Favourites’ Favourites sees one of our most beloved writers speak with a breakout Australian author from the past year. Join popular writer and broadcaster Benjamin Law as he chats with Tracey Lien, a southwestern Sydney–raised, Brooklyn-based reporter and debut novelist of All That’s Left Unsaid. Set in 1990s Cabramatta, the story is an internationally bestselling murder mystery that explores the effects of migration and inherited trauma while pulling...

Australian novelist Pip Williams drew wide acclaim for her bestselling debut, The Dictionary of Lost Words, “a marvellous fiction about the power of language to elevate or repress” (Geraldine Brooks). Her new novel, The Bookbinder of Jericho, covers similar terrain, with the story of a young British woman working in a book bindery who gets a chance to pursue knowledge and love when the first world war upends her life. Pip discusses her latest work with Cassie McCullagh. This episode was...

Relive all the thrills and spills of the past year in Australian politics with veteran journo Barrie Cassidy and his hand-picked squad of the country’s sharpest pundits. From ScoMo’s secret ministries to the climate reckoning of the Teal wave and the verdict on Labor’s first year in office, it’s all up for dissection as they take the pulse of the nation. Hear Barrie in conversation with Amy Remeikis, Niki Savva and Laura Tingle. This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’...

Celebrated actor Sam Neill shares stories from his memoir Did I Ever Tell You This, a wild and witty account of a career in film and TV spanning half a century. From his early days in amateur Shakespeare productions in New Zealand to leading roles in movies such as My Brilliant Career, Jurassic Park and The Piano, Sam brings insight and humour to his trials and triumphs, on and off screen. He is joined in conversation by fellow actor and author, Bryan Brown. This episode was recorded live at...

Four favourite writers come together to give the lowdown on having their works adapted into TV shows and movies and adapting the work of others. Hear from Eleanor Catton, whose novels The Rehearsal and The Luminaries have made their way to the screen; Holly Ringland, whose bestseller The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is being turned into a series starring Sigourney Weaver; and Tom Rob Smith, whose novel Child 44 became a movie with Tom Hardy and whose adaptations for the screen The Assassination...

Asma Khan, the Indian-British chef, restaurateur and star of Netflix’s Chef’s Table, shares culinary memories and treasured recipes from her book Ammu. Well-known for her all-female kitchen team and her commitment to social change, Asma speaks with Annabel Crabb about a cook book that is a joyful celebration of heritage, of slow-cooked dishes passed through generations, and of the inextricable link between food and love.  This episode was recorded live at the 2023 Sydney Writers’...